Very unsuitable hotel, WWYD?

[GlamGiraffe]

WWYD. please tell, it's a longish one

Booked a holiday, DH, DS(17), DD(2) and myself✈.
Explained to the travel agent i needed somewhere a suitable for both kid, in particular where DS could wander off and entertain himself alone some of the time whilst I could stay and relax with DD by a pool in a toddler friendly environment.

Committed a fair amount of money to having a nice holiday having had a dire stressful time health and work wise.
Arrived at hotel, over 100 steps, wound higledy pigbledy over cliff wihout bannisters, from property entrance to front door, virtually impossible with a buggy. No open spaces where a toddler can safely safely walk as everything is on a clifft top with no barriers or railings and sheer drops to rocks below.⛰🏞 The pool is small, is only deep, has no space around it in which to walk as it is stiffed full of loungers. A hotel with capacity for 950 has approx 200 loungers. And the poll is pretty packed with the poll from that many in. The suggested shingle beach is in fact a small concrete platform over more rock with ladders to the water. The "playground" is only suitable for kids aged maybe 8 years and is also surrounded by cliff edge drops.
Making matters worse, DD has serious dairy allergy, i checked in advance hotel had oat milk which was confirmed. The hotel have yried twice to pass hrt off with soya milk yo ehich she is also evtremely allergic- she could die. Despite this they ate oblivious. Despite caiming to stock the ost milk on the phone, on arrival they didn't even know what it was and I have to travel I hr to get it-i had space to bring it had I known.
We are totally restricted on what to do, we are at a loss. There is nothing resembling a beach nearby. We trekked to the nearest rocky scrap which is hopeless and without an inch even to swing a cat in.
Have contacted the agent explained the problem. She contacted the hotel who (surprise surprise said their hotel was totally child appropriate). There is even a hole the width of my toddler through the balcony wall-on the 9th floor.
Family is awfully stressull, I'm not in best health to be trekking in a sightseeg mission is really not what I need and that really unfair on a child who is only just 2.
There are 2, maybe 3 children we have seen here. The whole hotel, definitely the resort is catered towards the more eldery guest.
I know this is rambling. Sorry.

But WWYD?
We,re/I'm going a bit nuts; the stress is starts to show already😫😫.

It does sound a nighmare for your family.

However it was up to you to do research.
There is so much information on the internet- you could have known all about the hotel before you booked,

When we travelled with young children I would find out evertyhing- the depth of the shallow end of the pool, provision for toddler swimming, steps, nearby shops & restaurants, distance and accessability ro beach, nearest bus routes etc. I am sorry you are disappointed, but simply throwing money at a travel agent in the hope of a good outcome is not going to get you the best result.
A lesson for future holidays

Is there a sister hotel nearby that your travel agent could move you to?
Faiiling that I would be would be hiring a car, at least you will find suitable places for your toddler, and find a supply of milk.

Sounds awful op. Definitely pressurise the travel agent for a move somewhere more suitable ASAP. I’d find 3 more suitable hotels nearby the company uses and suggest a move to any of those today would be acceptable.

With so much information to hand, you hand every opportunity to find out about the hotel and location etc. Thirty seconds in the internet could have told you all this.

OP I don’t have any advice but I’m so sorry you found yourself in this situation. You were very stressed with whatever was going on for you, and you needed someone else (the travel agent) to sort the right holiday for you, and they’ve totally failed. The hotel sound awful esp re the milk. Hope you find a way to move hotels/ rescue the holiday.

I meant to tap the flowers rather than the cake, but I guess cake is also good!

There are 2, maybe 3 children we have seen here.

I assume it’s easy to find out it’s not child friendly if no families are staying there.

If all else fails, review it on Trip Advisor together with photos.
As a fellow tourist I’d want to know how unsafe the whole place is, and I’m sure it will get the manager to sort stuff out for you

It's quite possible there are review with plenty of information and photos already on Tripadvisor.

Hopefully you get moved to somewhere more suitable OP, I know how stressful it can be with a toddler in an unsuitable hotel as it happened to us in the past but that was before the days of TA. Tripadvisor guest photos really are your friend when researching accommodation. Some reviews you can take with a pinch of salt but the guest photos give you an insight in to what to expect.

Another thing we do before deciding on accommodation is also to check YouTube for guest videos.

Google earth, street view if available - as well as reviews I would have checked everything out beforehand.

As for the milk, If being given the wrong thing could kill her then I would not trust anyone in a foreign country to be aware and provide the right kind.

However you did ask questions beforehand so the agent should have researched on your behalf, unfortunately they just want to take your money.

In my experience, hotels in places like Greece and Italy have different standards to the U.K.

Sure all this would have been clear from reading Trip Advisor before you booked?

Can you tell us the name of the hotel or area

Please do an honest and pictorial review on trip advisor. Just give the facts. I know it doesn’t help you but it will give others considering a family holiday there an idea of what it’s like

yes, you should have made your own research, but that's a bit late now.
Between travellers reviews and photos, google map and the rest, it's easy to see what things look like - to a point.

I would ask to be transferred to a family friendly hotel, or ask for a refund to go towards next holiday and ask to leave early. It sounds horrendous, and there are much more family friendly hotels that are available, your requirements were not excessive.

Take photos and write a review to warn others when you are back too!
There are never enough loungers for guests in any hotels though, unless you go to a "family size" with a handful of rooms, but some hotels have quite a few swimming pools so it's not that painful.

I know the feeling of being abroad and somewhere unsuitable, it's horrible, I really feel for you.
I would Google local places you can go to to spend the day relaxing, just come back to sleep at the hotel. Hire a car. Make the most of it if you aren't moved. Or, use TripAdvisor to find a suitable hotel, just go there and use your refund to pay for it??

Did any of the reviews say it was great for young children? If not, why book it? I don't understand how you needed such specific things yet didn't look into the hotel before booking.

Are you with one of the big tour operators?

If so, I’d be asking for a move to somewhere more family friendly. Telll them you are not prepared to stay after the milk incident and make it their problem.

As PP have said it’s always wise to do your own research, but some of the larger operators have ways to identify more family friendly hotels. It’s years ago now, but I seem to remember one group offering mothercare equipment in resorts.

I hope you get something sorted.

If you suck it up and spend a nightmare time, you won't have as much ground to complain - it's now when you arrive that you need to be on them urgently.

I'd rather pack and go to another hotel, worth wasting a few hours in a coach or taxi and have a relaxing time

Even if you book in a travel agent, you can google the hotel while sitting there. Was this a last minute booking? Advertised on the window? The travel agency only can see limited information, if you want details, trip advisor is best

Have you even checked whether oat milk is available? A hotel offering soy is a normal adaptation, never seen any others in continental Europe in hotels. I suspect they heard allergic to cows milk and assumed soy was ok

Don't really understand why anyone with a two year old would book a hotel with a "fine shingle" beach. What fun is that?

And I think most people would have taken their own supply of preferred brand oat milk if their child had an allergy.

Sorry OP but I think a lot of this is down to you, not the hotel or the travel agent, as someone upthread said caveat emptor.

Former travel agent and holiday rep here, did you book an actual package eg through tui/ first choice etc or did your travel agent put a package together eg book flights and hotels separately?
Packages will have child friendly info in brochures/tour operator websites so you could have checked, your operators canmove you to a different hotel subject to availability and any difference in cost you would be liable for as the Unsuitability is down to you by picking that accommodation if your travel agent did it all independentantly you may get them accepting responsibility and pay towards a move
On a side note as a travel agent it’s impossible to know everything about everywhere but even in my day we wouldn’t sell a holiday without someone knowing where they are going. Also it’s a big ask to get a resort suitable for a 17 year old and 2 year old, they are different holidays so compromise is needed
Good luck

Which 'agent' have you booked with? If it's Tui/Thomas Cook or even someone like an individual Travel Counsellor you need to go over their head and get in contact with their complaints department ASAP. Be clear and ask what the complaints process is and follow that route.

Speak to them directly to see what your options are? It really depends what kind of company you've booked with in terms of what other options are. Tui/TC types will have allocations at other hotels, but that won't be the case with other agents, who only book a room in the same way you could yourself.

As others said, I'd also take photos of the physical issues so you can also follow up when you get home.

In future, I really wouldn't trust any agent to fully recommend hotels, there is only so much they can know about each hotel and you need to back it up with your own research. Given the allergy issues with your daughter, I personally wouldn't be going to any hotel and trust them to provide the right milk. We go self catering in France and hire a car, a large supermarket is 10 mins away so we can easily get hold of the specific food and drink we need.

Photos can be deceiving sometimes it isn’t always easy.